Thanks to the Rain
by Valie
Summary: Late, but my first attempt at a Thanksgiving holiday fic. A rainy Thanksgiving day reminds Ginny what she's thankful for. Ginny/Luna fluff -femslash-


**A/N: **Wrote this for _'The Thanksgiving Challenge' _by mustardgirl1128 at the HPFC.

x.x I wrote and completed this back in November, but I absolutely hated it. I edited it, but then I kind of forgot about it until now. Re-reading it, I realized I liked it better now then I did before. Don't know why, I guess time makes you see things differently. :\

Incorporating Thanksgiving into not only the Harry Potter world but also combining it with people who in general didn't celebrate this holiday was tricky. Of course, Mr. Weasley being a major muggle fanatic helped greatly. Then there was the fact that I wasn't sure how to go about talking about Thanksgiving and describing Ginny and Luna's relationship. I think in the end, I focused more on the relationship then the actual holiday of Thanksgiving. Ah, well, still, not a bad try for my first holiday fic. Enjoy folks and do let me know what you think.

**Challenge:** Write a fic of any length from any fandom about a character/pairing being thankful for anything. (I, obviously, transformed the idea into a Thanksgiving holiday story.)

**Warning: **Femslash.

**Pairing: **Ginny/Luna

**Timeframe:** Suppose to take place during the seventh book. ^^; I had to edit a lot to make it fit and be believable.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing Harry Potter related, but I do own the Kulamos, as I made it up. T-T I still wished I owned something better, like Pansy... :D--- Oh the smuttiness that would ensue if I did. XD

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**Thanks to the Rain**

Of all days to rain, it did so on Thanksgiving day. Of course, I'd never heard of the holiday until father discovered it in a muggle book from America. So fascinated, as he is with anything muggle related, father decided that we should celebrate it. However, since school was still in session, father decided to postpone the Thanksgiving celebration to the week before Christmas, picking me up a week early from school. They sent out invitations to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who all agreed to come. As for my brothers - Charlie sent word that he would stop by for the Thanksgiving feast, because he wouldn't be able to come for Christmas. Bill was to come and stay for a few days, saying he need a rest from his work with the Order. The twins would close up shop and stay for a few days as well. We would all be together, but it felt ominous. As if this Thanksgiving celebration would be the last time of not only the year, but of ever that everyone would spend time altogether like this.

In truth, I was excited by the idea of seeing everyone together for the holidays, even if it was never heard of. With He-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless' return, everyone was on edge. We all feared his return to power. Mum cried more, though she never let us see her crying. Father was also very worried and was starting to feel the stress of working for the Ministry of Magic at such a dangerous time. Hogwarts was in a ruckus and the tension in the air was as thick as steel, especially with Dumbledore's death. The houses were uneasy being around each other and the worst was that many of the students barely trusted the people in their own house! I had kept my friendships with others from the other houses as best I could, but each day got a little harder. Luna and I were part of the very few from different houses that remained close friends despite everything. Luna hadn't changed her persona one bit and neither had I, that's how we remained friends.

There was no Quidditch this year, so once again I had a lot of time to spend with the spacey girl. So much time, in fact, that we had, perhaps, in a way... began dating. It wasn't planned, I had no interest in Luna in such a way and from what I gather, she hadn't either. Though, with Luna, you never know exactly if what she says is true. She always speaks what she believes is real, but I don't think that means she always tells the truth, whether she knows it or not. There had been an incident in our fifth year where Luna and I had been out for a walk through the school grounds. Suddenly, a downpour came down on us and we headed for the safety of a nearby tree. We ran, Luna getting there first and though she held my hand, I still lagged behind. She spun around quickly upon reaching the shelter of the tree and pulled me a little too hard toward her. Tripping, I stumbled into her, our breasts pressed roughly together and our lips almost touching. It had been an accident and Luna apologize for it, but I recall seeing a small smile dance on her lips for a moment before she apologized. Trying not to read into it at the time, I dismissed it until we actually did share our first kiss.

Staring out at the rain, I thought of Luna and our first kiss. It had been raining that day too, though we had been inside at the time. It had been this summer past, several weeks before we were to start our sixth year. I'd gone to visit her, curious to see what her home life was like. She been happily surprised to see me at her door, even though I had sent her a owl the day before that I would come. Her home frighten and fascinated me at the same time. As I got lost peering about at all the oddities, I realized her father was nowhere to be seen.

"Luna, where's your father?" I had asked, examining a stuffed toad's head on a nearby shelf.

"In town, I suspect or in his lab. I haven't seen him in a few days. No, I do recall seeing a muffin floating by earlier in the day, so he must be holed up in his laboratory." She said, her normal blankness never leaving her face. It was hard to tell if she cared whether or not her father was home.

"Doesn't it bother you that you don't even know if he's home for certain or not?" This time I faced her as I asked my question.

"Why should I be bothered? He's here, isn't he?" She looked confused at my question.

"Do you know for sure?"

"I did say that I saw a muffin float by me this morning, didn't I?" Silence for a moment. "Unless it was a Kulamos! It must've been hungry! It made itself invisible so it could stealthily steal the muffin! Oh, wait until father hears about this!" Luna said excitedly.

On cue, a man stepped into the room and if it wasn't for his, albeit strange, eyes, I wouldn't have known that it was Luna's father. He smiled serenely at me before turning to his daughter. "Tell me what?"

"Oh, father, I believe a Kulamos stole a muffin this morning from the kitchen!"

"Really?! Did you get a picture of it?"

"Sadly, no. The Kulamos had made itself invisible."

"It did? My! This helps in my research greatly! Not only does it appear human and can speak, it has sense enough to make itself invisible so as not to be seen unless it wants. No wonder we've had so much trouble locating one!"

Luna's father spun and quickly exited the room the same way he'd come. I could only stare flabbergasted at Luna as the conversation between father and daughter replayed in my mind. This was surely madness, wasn't it?

"Would you like to see my room?" The blond asked, as if the conversation with her father hadn't just happened.

Dumbly, I nodded and followed her up winding stairs to her room. It was normal except for touches that clearly reflected by her curious nature. Odd shaped horns and what appeared to be teeth were scattered about on a table in one corner of the room. On a wall, were various drawings of creatures that were surely the ones Luna always went on about. Waving a hand about, Luna said simply, "This is my room. Please do make yourself at home." Which would have been easy if my room had a strange purple scaly rug between the staircase and the bed. Cautiously, I ventured into the room, gazing about before sitting on the edge of her bed. Smiling, she sat beside me but did not say a word. There we sat for a long while, as I took in her room once again.

"What do you want to do, Luna?" I asked, finally turning my attention to her.

"It's raining out." She said, looking out the window.

"Yes. It's done so all day."

"I like the rain."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's sign of renewal. New beginnings and such." She smiled as she turned to me. "Anything can happen on a rainy day and so long as it rains, any sin can be erased."

Blushing suddenly, I wondered what 'sin' she meant. Her hand grasped mine, distracting me long enough for her to close the distance between us. Luna stole my lips with her own. It was a beautiful moment as I realized that I loved her. We'd been dating ever since that day. We didn't need the rain to erase away our sin though, because there was none, only two girls in love. However, every time we seemed to come into extremely intimate moments, it had always been rained outside. Though, it shouldn't really be read into, with it being in England and all. However, we always kept in mind our secret meaning of the rain. It allowed us to be free and refreshen our souls, letting us love each other a little more then we already did.

Later on, when we all sat together for Thanksgiving dinner, I thought of Luna. Dad suggested we all name something we were thankful for once we had gotten settled.

"Muggles." Dad started and everyone laughed.

"My family." Mum said, looking around at all of us with a smile.

"The holidays." Bill said.

"Dragons." Charlie said.

"Fred." George said with a snicker.

"George." Fred said, bursting into a fit of laughter with George.

"Friends." Ron said, when everyone had quieted down.

"Knowledge." Hermione said next.

"This moment." Harry said, blushing at several 'Awws!'

Mum turned to me last. "What about you, sweetheart?"

I glanced out the window for a second, seeing the rain still falling.

"The rain," I finally answered, smiling widely.

**End**


End file.
